


The One With Chandler’s Date

by lazy



Category: Friends (TV)
Genre: Coming Out, M/M, chandler is kinda forced to come out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-24 19:44:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17710415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazy/pseuds/lazy
Summary: “Chandler, be cool, man. We’ll just meet her, say hi and then you’ll be free to go. It’ll be fine” Joey tried to reason with him.“Believe me, it won’t be fine. For the first time in my life, I’m being dead serious. Please leave. I will literally pay each of you a thousand dollars if you leave right now” he pleaded, and, just as he finished, there was a knock on the door.“Son of a bitch” he whispered.Or: Chandler has a secret date, his friends won’t leave his apartment, surprises happen and everyone has A Talk.





	The One With Chandler’s Date

**Author's Note:**

> heyy
> 
> so i wrote this inspired by a fic i read once about chandler having a bet with one of his coworkers in which he fake dates him and the rest of the gang think he’s actually dating him and find out he’s gay. unfortunately i can’t remember the name of the fic, so if you recognise it pls tell me its name so i can give the author credit for the inspo!

Chandler wasn’t surprised at all seeing his friends staring at him as he got out of the bathroom, towel hanging from his hips as he covered his chest with folded arms.

 

“Alright, this is getting out of hand. Leave me _and_ my nipples alone! And _you_ ” he pointed to Monica, who was grinning at him from the foosball table where she was sitting “I should’ve never trusted you, you traitor”

 

“Okay, Chandler, relax, we’re not here for the freak show. You can keep your three nips to yourself” Phoebe said sarcastically, leaning over the kitchen counter while sipping orange juice from a suspicious looking glass that Joey probably had forgotten to wash.

 

“Oh, so now you’re stalking me just for a glimpse of my hot naked body? Could you guys _be_ anymore creepy?” He huffed ironically as he walked to his room, stopping right before his door as he heard Ross address him.

 

“As appealing as your great physique is, other motives bring us here on this beautiful day”

 

“Okay, what’s going on?” He turned around to watch his friends suspiciously, a deep frown on his face as he eyed each person in the room looking for an explanation for all of that weird behavior.

 

“Well, nothing! Can’t we all just gather here to hang out with our bestest friend?” Rachel smiled.

 

“It’s not like you have other places to be, is it?” Monica grinned maliciously, her smile growing bigger as realization put a huge grimace on Chandler’s face.

 

“You told them!” He pointed at Joey, who pretended no one was talking to him as he whistled and looked around the room innocently. Besides him, the rest of the group began chatting excitedly, voices mixing up in a loud chaos.

 

“Alright! Alright! Alright!” Chandler screamed over the noise, “So I got a date. Big deal! It’s not like we need a whole formal meeting to discuss it! Do you want some graphs detailing my lack of love life to go with it?” He shouted, arms moving over his head in irritated gestures.

 

“Oh, come on, Chandler! It’s not that, you know it. We were just curious about this mysterious date you told Joey not to tell anyone about” Monica teased as Rachel laughed at her friend.

 

“Yeah! Besides, you’re always mocking us for our dates. Perhaps it’s time for a little revenge, a little meet and greet” The blonde added, clapping her hands together.

 

“Look guys. It’s really not that big a deal. That’s exactly why I told _Joey_ ” he spat the name “to keep quiet about it. You weren’t even supposed to meet h- my date, not even Joey” Chandler said as he scratched his head nervously and then fiddled with the hem of his towel.

 

“Ooh, now I’m definitely staying!” Phoebe clapped and jumped excitedly. “Why can’t we meet this mystery lover? Is she weirder than the average Chandler girl?”

 

“Yeah, he’s positively hiding something!” Ross contributed. “And it’s gotta be super weird, ‘cause I’ve seen him be shameless with all kinds of freak during college” he added in a weirdly scientific-sounding voice, nodding to the rest of the group.

 

“Oh, shut up, everyone! Look, I’m being serious. It’s not a big deal so please, pretty please leave. I’m gonna go inside my room to change, and when I come back I wanna see everyone gone. Including you, Joe” Chandler begged with desperation in his voice. When he saw everyone raise their hands in defeat, he sighed with relief and went into his bedroom.

 

•

 

He realized God probably hated him when he opened his door to the living room to find out his friends were still there.

 

“Oh, come _on_!” He frowned as he walked over to the bathroom to grab his hair gel, feeling like punching Joey just a little bit. Maybe he should later.

 

“Chandler, be cool, man. We’ll just meet her, say hi and then you’ll be free to go. It’ll be fine” Joey tried to reason with him.

 

As Chandler emerged from the toilet, he addressed everyone in the room with a serious expression.

 

“Believe me, it won’t be fine. For the first time in my life, I’m being dead serious. Please leave. I will literally pay each of you a thousand dollars if you leave right now” he pleaded, and, just as he finished, there was a knock on the door.

 

“Son of a bitch” he whispered.

 

“She’s heeeere” the girls sang happily as they looked at Chandler teasingly. Ross and Joey grinned and looked at the door expectantly.

 

Chandler snapped.

 

“You know what? Fine. But I warned you.” He said as he grabbed his coat and his keys and walked up to the door. He opened it slowly and his friends were surprised by the figure on the hall.

 

Instead of the strange girl they were expecting, they were faced with a man. A male. A guy in his late twenties with a short beard dressed all in black.

 

“Hey” the man muttered shyly as he leaned on the door frame, his hands behind his back.

 

“Hi, Adam. Everyone, this is Adam. Adam, this is everyone.” He looked at his friends, each one open-mouthed in pure shock at the sight before them. They were all paralyzed and didn’t respond to the introduction, which got a small sarcastic chuckle from Chandler. “We’re gonna take off now. Bye guys”.

 

After the door slammed shut, the room was still dead silent.

 

•

 

The next morning, when Chandler walked into Monica and Rachel’s place wearing the previous night’s clothes, he was ready.

 

He had spent the whole taxi ride from Adam’s place rehearsing his speech and explanations, and even came up with quite a lot of gay jokes to try and break the ice - even if he thought that maybe it was a little too soon.

 

But, seeing all of his friends staring at him from the living room as he stood by the door, he wanted to run.

 

“Oh I just remembered I have a window to jump out of right now, so. Bye bye then, love you, bye” He stuttered as he turned around to leave.

 

“Chandler Bing! You better stay right where you are, Mister!” Phoebe screamed at him. “You are going to stay here, and you’re going to sit down, and we’re all going to have a serious conversation like mature adults!”. The shouting had become so loud that even Phoebe had scared herself, so she took a deep breath and added a quiet ‘please’.

 

It took Chandler a few seconds, but he eventually shrugged “Guess I have no choice then”. He walked carefully tothe couch and tried to sit as far away from everybody as he could, feeling guarded and suspicious, like he could be attacked at anytime. “So...”

 

“So...” Rachel played with her hair nervously.

 

No one could look each other in the eye, and the tension was palpable in the room. It was so much different from all of the mornings that very group had spent on that flat, when they were laughing and bickering instead of avoiding the great big rainbow elephant in the room - which Chandler was responsible for, thank you very much. Damn God for making him just like his daddy.

 

After an awkward silence that lasted way too long, Joey finally lost it. “Okay, screw it. Are you gay, man?”

 

The group immediately snapped at him, with a lot of shouting ‘ _Joey_!’, reprimands and scoffs. Monica and Ross threw pillows at him while telling him off, which made him raise his hands up high in a peace gesture. “Hey! I’m just asking what everyone here wants to know and you know it!” He defended himself, his eyes wide in annoyance.

 

“It’s fine, really. Anyway, guess the cat’s out of the bag now, right?” Chandler sighed. “Yes, I’m gay, yes, you were right all along with your ‘quality’ thing, yes, I’m aware I turned out just like my dad and no, unfortunately this is not a joke” he said in an annoyed, kind of embarrassed, voice, his arms crossed in front of his chest in a protective manner. He could not look his friends in the eye.

 

As his words sinked in, no one said anything, and they all stared at the ground. Phoebe had a strand of hair in her mouth, Rachel and Monica were chewing their lips anxiously, Ross was paying close attention to his nails and Joey had his eyebrows raised as he walked in circles by the kitchen. Chandler sighed again and covered his face with his hands, seeming very tired. He couldn’t take it.

 

“Look, this is why I didn’t want you to know. I guess I’ll just go, ok? Let’s just pretend this never happened. I’ll act very heterosexual, thank you very much, and you’ll act like you don’t think I’m a freak. Everybody happy!” He tried to grin sarcastically, but it came out as a grimace.

 

As he got up from the couch, Rachel reached her arm out to him from her spot, brows furrowed. “No, Chandler, come on. We’re just surprised, that’s all”.

 

“Yeah man,” Ross added awkwardly “most of our talk was just teasing. I didn’t actually expect you to be... y’know” He shrugged.

 

Chandler sat back down, still on guard and looking comically suspicious.

 

“It’s weird now, but it doesn’t... have to be?” Monica scratched her head “Let’s just talk”.

 

“Yes. Talk is good” Phoebe agreed in a very wise tone, eyebrows raised like she was the smartest person in the room. “Start by telling us what the hell is going on”

 

“Okay, see, Pheebs, when two men are real good friends-“ Chandler leaned closer to her in a mocking voice, pretending to talk to a child.

 

“Come on, Chandler! She means why the hell you’ve been hiding this from us! And since when?!” Rachel slapped him lightly.

 

He took a deep breath. _Here_ _I_  g _o_.

 

“Look, as you all know, I’m a very open, sensible and good-with-feelings kind of guy”. Everyone else snorted, but he kept going. “Still, I was in denial about the whole... ‘gay thing’. I know I am now, but it took so long because. Well. When you’ve had the lovely parents I’ve had, you want nothing to with them, believe me. And also, I wanted to prove all of you jerks wrong! With your stupid ‘quality’ thing! So I just kept lying to myself. But it’s been a few months of coming to terms with it. I never told you because it would be awkward - and I guess I’m being proved right” He ended with a harsh look to the others.

 

They all looked away, embarrassed, until Ross cleared his throat. “So you and... _Adam_ ” he said carefully “are you...?”

 

“Oh that was only a date, nothing serious. Just ‘cause I’ve switched teams doesn’t mean I’m not still hopeless in the love department” He rolled his eyes.

 

“Well, Adam was quite cute” Rachel commented casually, her eyebrows raised as she pretended to inspect her shoelaces.

 

Chandler groaned “Oh, come on, please! Let’s not start that kind of talk”

 

“Yeah!” Joey and Ross agreed immediately, rubbing their necks in terror. Too soon.

 

“Fine!” Rachel conceded “But Chandler, we still love you alright?” Rachel said with worry.

 

“Yeah, doesn’t change a thing!” Monica promised.

 

“You don’t have to hide it from us, we’re your friends” Phoebe followed.

 

Chandler looked at them, his heart beating two times faster. Damn, even if he wouldn’t admit to their faces in a million years, he loved those girls more than anything. But unfortunately, they weren’t the only ones in that particular friend dynamic. Chewing his nails, he turned to look at Joey and Ross, who were now both sitting on the kitchen table, arms crossed. Chandler’s eyes made a silent question. _Is_ _this_ _okay?_

 

Joey shrugged. “Reckon this means more chicks for Joey”. He grinned “Not that you were ever competition in the first place.”

 

That got a small smile from Chandler.

 

“And you’re my best friend, Chandler” Ross said, sounding determined. “This doesn’t change that”.

 

Then, all of his friends gathered around him on the couch in a big group hug, much to his embarrassment. Although, deep down, he was oh so happy and oh so relieved. He really loved those idiots.

 

The big cuddle, however, was interrupted after a few silent and comfortable seconds by a curious Joey:

 

“So, how _exactly_ does gay sex work?”

 

As everyone started hitting and snapping at him again, Chandler realized with a smile that everything would be alright


End file.
